IN Brief:
- Fox Group has acquired DSD Construction and Moore Readymix as it expands its construction materials platform.
- The deals add surfacing, cold milling, in-situ recycling, and ready-mixed concrete capacity.
- The group is positioning the acquisitions around vertical integration and circular materials use.
Fox Group has expanded its construction materials and infrastructure services platform with the acquisition of DSD Construction and Moore Readymix.
The Blackpool-headquartered group has acquired Carlisle-based DSD Construction, a civil engineering and surfacing specialist, in what it says is its largest acquisition since investment from Stellex Capital Management. It has also acquired Moore Readymix, a long-established Lancashire concrete supplier operating from batching plants at Walton Summit and St Annes.
DSD Construction adds surfacing, cold milling, in-situ recycling, and civil engineering capability, with experience across highways, infrastructure, and regulated sectors. The business will continue to trade under the DSD name, with founder and chief executive Shaun Nugent and managing director Martin Tweddle remaining in the company.
Moore Readymix adds ready-mixed concrete capacity to Fox Group’s existing construction materials operations. Founder Roy Moore will remain as managing director, while Fox has said it is already investing in the business through a new concrete plant at its Leyland hub.
By adding both businesses, Fox Group now controls a broader span of the construction materials chain. DSD increases internal demand for aggregates and asphalt, while Moore creates another route for recycled and secondary aggregates into ready-mixed concrete. The group already operates across materials supply, haulage, recycling, asphalt, concrete, civil engineering, and surfacing.
The acquisitions reflect a construction materials market increasingly shaped by control of supply, embodied carbon pressure, and the practical need to keep material moving through constrained local networks. Contractors, highways authorities, and infrastructure clients are asking more detailed questions about waste recovery, haulage distances, material traceability, recycled content, and carbon performance.
IN Site has recently covered low-carbon materials developments, including a commercial-scale carbon-storing concrete floor delivered in Germany. Product innovation attracts attention, but day-to-day change in construction materials is also happening through consolidation, plant investment, and tighter control of existing material streams.
Highways and civils work offers a clear example. Reclaimed asphalt planings can be captured during milling, processed, and returned into new asphalt. Recycled and secondary aggregates can reduce reliance on virgin materials where specifications allow. Concrete supply can provide another outlet for processed materials, provided testing, consistency, compliance, and quality control are strong enough.
Ownership across the chain can help, but circular construction materials depend on more than acquisition. Technical control, plant capability, specification acceptance, transport planning, and reliable quality assurance all decide whether recovered materials can be used at scale. DSD gives Fox more access to materials at source through surfacing and milling, while Moore gives the group further batching capacity and a direct concrete supply route.
The deals also point to continuing consolidation in regional construction materials markets. Smaller family-owned specialists often bring strong local relationships, skilled staff, operational knowledge, and established plant. Larger integrated groups can add capital, compliance systems, procurement strength, and the ability to serve larger frameworks. Maintaining the practical strengths of acquired businesses while adding scale is usually the deciding factor.
Fox’s decision to retain existing leadership at both DSD and Moore should support continuity with customers, staff, and suppliers. At the same time, the group is clearly building a platform capable of serving larger civil engineering, highways, surfacing, concrete, and recycling programmes.
Clients are increasingly seeking cost certainty, lower-carbon options, shorter logistics chains, and evidence that materials are being managed responsibly. Fox’s latest acquisitions move the group further towards an integrated regional model, where aggregates, asphalt, concrete, recycling, haulage, and delivery can be coordinated from within the same platform.
